My favorite young, under the radar guy right now is Billingsley. He was a bit rushed but pitched very well at the end. He's not a rookie though.

If I had to pick one rookie, it would be Lincecum. I also like Havok's choice of Miller as well.

Lincecum has been shut down. He seemed to have run out of gas a bit the last month but finishes his rookie campaign with respectable numbers for someone who had minimal professional experience:24 GS, 7 W, 146.1 IP, 150/65 K/BB, 4.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP

He didn't have the W total that Verlander had due to the terrible Giants team but his peripherals were better compared to Verlander's rookie season. Lincecum's season was more in line with Hamels's.

Billingsley looks great right now and still has couple more starts to go:18 GS, 11 W, 140 IP, 134/57 K/BB, 3.15 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

Especially good since he joined the rotation in July. He might be a bit overrated going into 08 but still, his upside is very high and I wouldn't hesitate to grab him in the middle rounds given his park, division and team. I think he will be just as good if not better than Verlander going forward.

I missed on Adam Miller as he suffered another season lost due to injuries. If I had to choose between Lincecum and Billingsley in 08, I would probably lean towards Billingsley right now. He is probably safer at this point even though his ceiling is a bit lower than Lincecum's.

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin

I liked billingsley all year, and stuck with him even through his atrocious start in the bullpen. Been paying nice dividends since he put it together in the bullpen and has become a starter. Many people dropped him or called him a waste when he struggled in his first few starts while he was stretching out, but he has been dynamite since then and has some pretty filthy stuff.

This years Verlander?

I nominate Jeremy Guthrie. 170ip, 120k/46bb, 7wins, 3.65Era, 1.20 whip. His era has risen quite a bit in the last month or so because he has never thrown anywhere near this many innings. But it is still a very nice end of season line for a "rookie".(I know he has pitched in the majors but 36innings in 3 years isn't really all that spectacular) If he was on a less atrocious team he would have had a lot more wins too.

Dustin Mcgowan has also has a tremendous year, and is still going strong. He pitched a handfull of innings the last 2 years, but was never more than a call-up stopgap. This year: 159innings, 133k/53bb, 11wins, 3.84era, 1.17whip. In his last start he went 9 innings against the red sox, giving up 1 er, with 10ks.

I feel smart now in having traded away Lincecum based on concerns he would be shut down during the fantasy playoffs. But as is often the case in fantasy baseball that's more than offset by the dumbness I feel based on the fact that the pitcher I targeted in return was Jeremy Bonderman.